By early Tuesday morning the shrine was shrouded in smoke
from a large fire on the northern edge of the Old City.

The attack did not appear to have damaged the dome of the
mosque. But an attack on Sunday night punched a deep hole in the west
wall of the shrine and scattered shrapnel and twisted pieces of metal
across the area.

Now, some people say that Muqtada al-Sadr's forces desecrated the
shrine first, by turning it into an armed camp. They say that Muslims
everywhere should be pleased we're chasing Sadr's guys out. These
people are idiots. As Prof. Cole explains,
the Muslim world at large sees this as, at best, a pitched battle
between Muslim thugs and Christian thugs -- and when they see that
kind of fight, they'll back the Muslims every time.